The present invention relates to a magnetic disk apparatus, and more specifically, to a removable type magnetic disk apparatus.
Conventionally, as usage of magnetic disk apparatus, major magnetic disk apparatus are fixed inside personal computers to record/reproduce data on/from magnetic disks. Also, while conventional magnetic disk apparatus are made of removable (portable) type detachable constructions, these magnetic disk apparatus are used in such systems capable of recording/reproducing data such as moving pictures and voice, for instance, in a music server, a video recorder, a portable information terminal, a car navigation system.
On the other hand, such data as moving pictures and voice (speech) are necessarily required to be processed in a real-time mode. In other words, band guarantees of data transfer operations are necessarily required. To this end, JP-A-10-222310 describes the following idea. That is, in response to the request for the prediction of input/output execution time with respect to the command issued from the external electronic appliance to the disk apparatus, the disk apparatus predicts the execution time required to process this command. When the predicted time result is located within the maximum allowable time required by the external electronic appliance, the magnetic disk apparatus executes this command. When the predicted time result exceeds the maximum allowable time, the magnetic disk apparatus stops the execution of this command, and notifies this fact to the external electronic appliance.
Also, in a detachable removable type magnetic disk apparatus, such a problem may be conceived. That is, the trouble occurrence rate of the magnetic disk apparatus is increased which is caused by that when this magnetic disk apparatus is removed from the external electronic appliance, this magnetic disk apparatus is dropped. To avoid such a problem, JP-A-8-234924 discloses the following idea. While the disk write data is written into the disk and also the data which is substantially identical to the disk write data is stored in the non-volatile memory, the data stored in the non-volatile memory should be saved even after the data has been written in the disk under normal condition until the release command is issued from the upper grade apparatus, namely is used as the back-up for the disk write data. As explained above, since the back-up data is saved, the disk write data can be restored even when the disk not-readable problem happens to occur after the data has been written into the disk under normal condition.
In the above-described JP-A-10-222310, the band guarantee of the data transfer operation is directed to the major subject, which may become advantage when the external electronic appliance executes the real-time process operation. However, the disk apparatus itself merely predict the command execution time based upon the internal condition, but the disk apparatus is not always operated in the optimum condition on the system.
For example, in the case that the external electronic appliance corresponds to a music server and/or a video recorder, as the device use environment, normal home living rooms are conceivable. As a consequence, while the spindle rotation speed is lowered, the user requests to reduce noise sounds originated from this disk apparatus.
Furthermore, in such a disk apparatus which is accessed by a plurality of external electronic appliances, this disk apparatus owns such a function with respect to a command issued from each of these external electronic appliances. That is, this disk apparatus judges as to whether or not the received command can be executed within allowable time, and also notifies the judgement result to the external electronic appliance. Similar to a single set of external electronic appliance, this disk apparatus is not always operated in the optimum condition in the system.
Also, the above-described JP-A-8-234924 is directed to the data restore operation when the magnetic disk apparatus is mounted to the external electronic appliance. To this end, this disclosed idea owns the merit as follows. That is, the data is restored in such a case that the data is written by employing such a troubled disk apparatus while the disk apparatus is removed from the system. However, in view of the data protection, this disclosed idea does not always constitute the basic solving idea. For example, in the case that while a disk apparatus is used under single state, a disk problem happens to occur due to drop trouble, the internal condition of this disk apparatus would be brought into such a difficulty that although the data cannot be written into the disk apparatus, the data can be read therefrom. In such a trouble case, the disk apparatus must notify the internal condition to the user, and requests the user to back-up the data to another disk apparatus.
An object of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus operable under optimum condition in correspondence with a plurality of external electronic appliances mounted on this apparatus since a magnetic disk apparatus is additionally provided with such a function capable of discriminating the plural external electronic appliances mounted thereon.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of detecting an internal condition of a disk apparatus, involving an attribute of data written thereinto, and also capable of notifying the detected internal condition to a user.
To achieve the above-explained objects, a disk apparatus, according to an aspect of the present invention, is featured by comprising: a plurality of signal input terminals defined by different standards; a data converter for converting a signal entered from the input terminals into input data; an identifying unit for identifying a sort of the input signal; a flag adding unit for adding a flag to the data outputted from the data converter based upon the output of the identifying unit; a recording/reproducing head for recording/reproducing the signal to which the flag has been added; and a disk for recording thereon information.
Also, an information processing system, according to another aspect of the present invention, is featured by arranging a plurality of different sorts of information processing apparatus, and a disk apparatus. The disk apparatus is arranged by employing: an input/output unit for transmitting/receiving information used to identify an information processing device corresponding to a data transfer counter party of the disk apparatus; an identifying unit for identifying an information processing device based upon the identification information; a flag processing unit for adding/removing a flag-based upon identification information to a signal inputted into the disk apparatus; a head unit for recording/reproducing the signal to which the flag has been added; and a magnetic disk for recording information.
Also, the disk apparatus is featured by further comprising: a condition detecting unit for detecting an internal condition of the disk apparatus; a processing unit for processing the output of the detecting unit; and a notifying unit for converting the internal condition of the disk apparatus into a signal of a numeral value, a figure, a color, and a sound in combination with the output of the processing unit, and for notifying the converted internal condition to a user.